
Match Racing in the middle of Ekaterinburg
August 17, 2021
Day 2 of Match Racing, Open European Championship
August 19, 2021Day 1 of Match Racing Open European Championship

It’s not surprising taking into account the warning of the Emergencies Ministry on the adverse weather conditions for the Sverdlovsk Region till August 21. The races of the EUROSAF Match Racing Open European Championship could not start in time today due to no wind.
– It’s not the first time we’re having a sailing competition here and we are ready to such situations, said Chief Umpire of the event Björn Sandell, – we have a certain time reserve, however, if there is no wind for a long time, we’ll have to change the competitions format. At one of the recent regattas we cancelled the quarterfinals, so it may be the case that we reduce the format this time, too.
The participants are also used to such situations, someone is talking, someone enjoys sun bathing. For others, this is time for quiet reading or e-mail communication. In general, everyone finds things to do according to their liking, but certainly, all of them are looking forward to the attention signal. These are 10 teams from Russia, Poland, Finland, France and Italy; among the participants, there are the leaders of the Match Racing World Ranking, and each of them has his or her own recipe of waiting for the wind.
– The weather is something beyond our control, admitted a Polish skipper Piotr Harasimowicz, – and in this respect, here we all are in equal situation. We are waiting for the wind and for the racing to begin, and this idle time is used by us in order to stay alone with ourselves, refresh our heads and relax.
On the first day of event, the wind appeared only at 15.00 p.m. and the racing started immediately. And the first match ended with the request for redress by Piotr Harasimowicz for incorrect display of the change mark by the race committee. As a result, the umpires granted the redress, and this match will be resailed.
But these were not all surprises of the day: the participants hardly completed only two flights (five races) and found the sea flat calm again. Only at 7 p.m., the wind returned, the boats were out on water again and two more flights were completed.
Thus, the leader of the first day of the Championship is Pavel Kuznetsov (RUS) with 3 wins. Maxime Mesnil (FRA) and Aurélien Pierroz (FRA) have two wins each, and Rocco Attili (ITA), Patryk Zbroja (POL), Andrey Kochnev (RUS) and Maxim Taranov (RUS) has one win each.
The Round robin races will continue tomorrow.
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